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Philippines, 16 Feb 2026 |
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INSIDE SPORTS: PACQUIAO LOST A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Tue, 20 Mar 2007 Its about time Manny Pacquiao and the sycophants around him including a miscellaneous Canadian who lives off him like a leech and his lawyer Franklin "Jing" Gacal admit that signing up with Bob Arum’s Top Rank was a monumental blunder. Of course we know the mentality behind the decision to grab the $1 million bonus from Arum which was twice that offered by Golden Boy because the initial glitter blinded them. To hell with the fact that Pacquiao – with the obvious assistance and advice of lawyer Gacal – signed the Arum contract two months after inking the deal with De La Hoya and getting $500,000 which included a $150,000 advance on his first fight. They conspired to set aside commonsense, not to mention integrity and decency by selling the same property as it were, to two different people with money as the deciding factor no matter how much they try to camouflage the real reason and claim that Pacquiao was groggy after a long flight from Manila and didn’t appreciate what he was signing. We thought he was smart and in fact so smart that he wants to run for a congressional seat against an exceptionally smart and talented young lady – incumbent Darlene Antonino Custodio. And what was Gacal who was there in both contract signings doing in the first place? By his actions Pacquiao lost a golden opportunity to prove to the whole world that his demolition of Barrera in November 2003 was what it truly was – a demolition. Pacquiao, we are convinced, would have knocked out Barrera in five or six rounds at the most in a rematch which Golden Boy actually had planned for March 18. In the process Pacquiao could have earned a cool $7 million. That could well have been a prelude to another megabuck rematch with Marquez followed by Joan Guzman and even Edwin Valero since Golden Boy holds the rights to Valero’s fights in the US provided Valero could get a medical clearance. Instead, Pacquiao is fighting an undefeated but unknown Mexican named Jorge Solis who hasn’t beaten any fighter of real note and will probably earn a comparatively measly minimum of $2 million which could increase to perhaps $3-4 million with pay-per-view income. However, remember the Pacquiao – Solis fight is reportedly the co-main event with Jorge Arce’s battle with Christian Mijares since Arce is the big draw among predominantly Mexican fans in San Antonio which means the revenues will likely be shared. With the news that a Marquez-Barrera rematch is in the works for September, Golden Boy is virtually telling Pacquiao you decided to go with the man who gave you more money up front and now let’s see what happens. Pacquiao is the big-time loser even financially. Should the Marquez-Barrera rematch push through it leaves Pacquiao out of the picture and the consciousness of fight fans except in the Philippines. He will have to content himself fighting opponents like Solis and possibly Humberto Soto – an Arum prot?g? - which is not going to make him the money he is obviously looking for nor the belt he needs to cement his reputation with because neither Solis nor Soto are champions. Gacal has attempted rather clumsily to twist the facts and claim that Arum was right when he allegedly predicted Marquez would beat Barrera. Just to refresh Gacal’s memory Arum said Golden Boy would never be able to stage a Barrera-Marquez fight which he did, making a mockery of Arum’s boast. And pray tell us where are the big name fighters and the minimum $5 million that Arum promised Pacquiao? Also, we must remember that Arum and Pacquiao backed off from an almost done deal against WBC featherweight champion In Jin Chi in Macau in favor of the clash with Solis in San Antonio, Texas. It cannot be that In Jin Chi was not a worthy opponent as some Pacquiao hangers-on claimed because Marquez – the IBF featherweight champion - moved up from the featherweight division and whipped super featherweight Barrera. Let’s get real. Pacquiao is the loser on all fronts and he and those around him have nobody to blame but themselves with the bottom line being the lure of money - $1 million up front from Arum which was twice as much as Golden Boy gave him. But in the end he sacrificed a future that was far more lucrative and exciting for the initial color of money. How sad it is! Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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